Korova Cookies

I have to admit, I did need a bit of a nudge to try this recipe which was emailed to me by my friend Lisa. Although these were billed as “The best cookies in the world”, I was kind of put off by the picture in the article because it reminded me of chocolate shortbread, which I don’t find particularly interesting unless it’s topped with layers of other stuff. I waited until a day when I needed something quick, something chocolaty, and something that didn’t use a ton of ingredients. That is, today.

These are really good. They’re not shortbread-like, but they’re not chewy nor very crunchy either. What they are is a super chocolaty and sturdy. They’re extremely easy to put together and the dough freezes well. If you make these, use the best chocolate you have available because it’s what stands out. I used Hershey’s Dark cocoa because it’s what I had. That’s also why my cookies are a bit darker. For the chocolate pieces, I used a combination of chopped up Godiva dark and chopped up Ghirardelli bittersweet chips. Use whatever you want, but make sure it’s good.

In a mixing bowl, beat butter until creamy. Beat in both sugars, the salt (if using) and vanilla and beat for another minute or two. Reduce speed to low or by hand (which is how I do it), stir in the dry ingredients. Stir only until the dry ingredients are incorporated, then add the chocolate.

Turn the dough out onto a smooth work surface, divide in half and, working with one half at a time, shape the dough into a log that is 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Wrap the logs in plastic wrap and chill them for at least 1 hour. (Wrapped airtight, the logs can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 1 month.)
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Working with a sharp thin-bladed knife, slice rounds that are 1/2-in thick. (Don’t be upset when the cookies break, just squeeze the broken-off bit back onto the cookie.) Place the cookies on the parchment-lined sheets, leaving about 1 inch of spread space between each cookie. Bake only one sheet of cookies at a time and bake each sheet for 12 minutes. The cookies will not look done, nor will they be firm, but that’s just the way they should be. Transfer the baking sheet to a cooling rack and let the cookies rest, on the baking sheet, until they are only just warm or until they reach room temperature. Repeat with the second sheet of cookies.

Keeping: The dough can be made ahead and either chilled or frozen. In fact, if you’ve frozen the dough, you needn’t defrost it before baking – just slice the logs into cookies and bake 1 minute longer.

Comments

Anna,
These look great. How can this much good chocolate be bad? I too want to focus on chocolate this week, but I’ll probably just be able to bake one thing. I’m thinking about truffles (not baked, I know:)). Anyway, I think I’ll hold onto this recipe.

I’ve made these four or five times since coming across the recipe a couple of months ago, and in my experience it is worth adding the salt even if you’re using salted butter – salted butter isn’t salty enough that I can consciously taste the salt as distinct from the other flavours, and they’re definitely more delicious when I can.

Julie, you just reminded me of something I saw in a magazine. A shortbread cookie with a truffle on top of it — kind of built into it….like a Mallomar but with shortbread and truffle. I want to try to make something like that.

Holly, thanks for the tip about the salt. I left mine out and the cookies are really good, but it might be because I used the really intense dark chocolate. So maybe the intensity of the dark chocolate is kind of mimicking the salt for me? I don’t know. I am a big fan of salt and things usually taste flat without it, but the cookies tasted good without it this time.

Hi Anna, I was very pleased open your bolg today and see you have made the Kurova cookies! I just splurged and ordered some Fleur de Sel today and have plans to make the cookies as soon as it arrives. I’m glad you like them, and I can’t wait to try them myself. I was thinking of using some Dagoba 59% dark chocolate with raspberry for the chunks. Since you’ve already tasted the cookies, do you think the raspberry will be compatible or just detract overall?

Lisa, I like chocolate raspberry, but if I were you, I would divide the batch in two and mix regular chocolate into 1/2 and the raspberry chocolate into the other. Personally, I wouldn’t want the raspberries mucking up the chocolate, but sometimes that combo is very good. So maybe do half and half.

Anna, great suggestion about making the cookies half regular and half with the chocolate raspberry just to see…I’ll report back after I’ve tried them. I’m also curious about whether the fleur de sel with make a noticable difference.

Hey Anna, I’ve been enjoying your site for awhile, and these are the first cookies I’ve made from it. I don’t usually like chocolate-chocolate chip cookies, but these sounded different… Oh man, they are dangerous! I quickly gave some to my neighbor before I ate them all.

My dough was pretty crumbly but I could squeeze it together okay to make the loafs. I did use whole wheat flour, and good Valhrona (sp) cocoa powder that I bought in a little tub from Whole Foods, so I doubt it was Dutch process. Maybe that affected the texture – but it worked and they baked up fine and taste great!

I made & froze the dough several weeks ahead of time, sliced and baked per request over the holidays. By far the best & unique cookie, no one believed I made them. I doubled the dough w/o problems but should have decreased the flour a bit. Used Fleur de Sel & Valhrona powder & chopped up dark chcolate (70% & 60%)..so good!